That’s long been the habit for Christi, whose oldest son, Matt Baulding, 25, is an Army cavalry scout and was last September stationed in Afghanistan. Christi never knows when she’ll get a call from her son or what number he might be calling from.

When Christi answered, Matt was on the phone. But Christi knew instinctively something was up.

“He said, ‘Guess what?’” Christi recalled. “It was him, but I knew something was wrong. I absolutely went numb. It was like I was walking through a dream.”

Her fears were founded when Matt relayed the reason for his call. He was wounded, he told his mother, but he also assured her he was going to be OK.

The same couldn’t be said for several of the other soldiers who were with Matt that day in Afghanistan. Matt holds the rank of specialist, a member of the Army’s 173rd 1-91 Cav-A Troop, 3rd platoon.

The incident where Matt was wounded was a confusing piece of a confusing war. On that particular day, he was a member of a group of eight soldiers on patrol. They took cover after coming under rifle fire, then returned fire.

During the middle of it all, an old man with a long, white beard approached down a foot path. Matt and his cohorts yelled at him to stop, to try to warn him of the dangers.

But he continued toward them and then blew himself up — a suicide bomber. The bomb he was wearing contained fishing weights, mini-balls, nails and any other bit of scrap metal those who assembled it could find.

Two of the soldiers were killed. Three — Matt, included — were wounded. One of the three was critically injured. Matt suffered wounds to his right leg, shrapnel from the incident he’ll carry the rest of his life.

Christi said it’s the Army’s practice to allow wounded soldiers to be the first to call their families when possible. That’s done, she said, to relieve as much as possible the anxiety of learning of the injury to a loved one.

Matt was flown from the site to a temporary medical facility in Afghanistan, then transported to a military hospital in Germany. He underwent three surgeries. Christi said her son told her he was well taken care of at the hospital, with representatives of a local ladies group at one point covering him with a handmade quilt of valor.

Christi said Matt was visited by Philip D. Murphy, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, and local officials who gave him commemorative coins from the country. He was presented the Purple Heart for his injuries.

Matt is currently stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany, where he’s expected to serve out the remainder of his enlistment. He’ll be leaving the Army in a little more than a year.

Matt graduated from Western Alamance High School in 2005. He joined the Army about three years ago. Christi said that before her son enlisted, she spoke to him about the dangers that come from military service.

“He said, ‘Mom, if something happens, at least I’ll have died doing what I wanted to do,’ ” Christi said Matt replied.

Matt is one of three sons of Skenes and John Baulding. Their stepfather is John Skenes III.

Matt’s brothers are Phillip Baulding, 20, and Joshua Baulding, 22. Phillip is a lance corporal in the Marines. He serves in the 2nd Division, 6th Marines and is stationed at Camp Lejeune. Joshua works for Chemco Electric.

Christi said her sons are all close. Matt was able to return home for leave a few weeks ago and all the brothers got together for a bit of male bonding.

“They stay in touch as much as they can,” Christi said.

She said she’s seen changes in Matt and Phillip since they joined the military.

“They seem to have matured a whole lot,” she said. “The things they took for granted, they don’t take for granted, anymore. They seem to have really grown as people.”

Phillip joined the Marines just last year and wasn’t far out of boot camp when his brother was wounded, his mother said. Phillip is currently involved in sniper training at Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif.

Christi said she knows she won’t see Matt or Phillip for Mother’s Day, but said she holds out hope one or both might call.

“I don’t dwell on where they are and what they’re doing,” she said. “It really gets to you if you dwell on it. I just look forward to hearing their voices.”

Of a Mother’s Day without her sons, Christi said, “They’re not able to be here, but they’ll always be in my heart.”